John Talbott

Founding Board Member May - Nov 2023; Re-elected Nov 2025

John Talbot is a professional engineer and internationally respected pioneer of ecological building and sustainable community development. He served for over twenty years as Director of the Findhorn Ecovillage Project, where he helped establish Findhorn as one of the world’s leading intentional communities. During this period, he pioneered green building techniques, ecological infrastructure and renewable energy systems, including the installation of northeast Scotland’s first wind turbine in 1989.

From 2012–2021, John was Project Director for the Narara Ecovillage in New South Wales, Australia — a co-operatively owned, self-funded ecovillage that will ultimately house 150 families and is now recognised as a flagship sustainable community project in Australia.

John designed and built his own home at Findhorn in the mid-1990s, one of the well-known Whisky Barrel Houses, and is the author of Simply Build Green, a technical manual on ecological building used internationally. He was instrumental in founding the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) and has lectured widely on sustainable community design.

Following his return to Findhorn in 2021, John chaired the Development Committee and acted as Project Manager for a £230,000 Scottish Government Just Transition Fund grant, supporting four major infrastructure projects aimed at achieving community carbon neutrality by 2030.